(CNN) – Rick Santorum, who last week enjoyed a 10-point nationwide lead over Mitt Romney, is now within one point of his chief GOP rival after dropping several points in Gallup's daily tracking poll.

The survey taken February 22-24 showed Santorum with the backing of 31% of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, down two points from Friday and down five points from his peak on Wednesday.

Support for Romney rose to 30%, a much-needed boost for the candidate who stood at 25% on Wednesday.

For the ongoing poll, Gallup surveys more than 1,000 registered Republican voters on a daily basis. The poll drops the oldest of five days each day and adds results from the most recent day of polling.

In the latest survey, Gallup questioned 1,153 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents by telephone between February 20 and February 24. The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

The results Saturday include two days of polling after CNN's Republican presidential debate in Arizona, the final time the four candidates squared off before key contests in Michigan and Arizona next week, as well as the votes in 10 states on Super Tuesday, March 6.

The two other candidates in the race, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, were both well behind the two front-runners. Gingrich stood at 16% and Paul was at 11%. Neither Gingrich nor Paul has seen a change in his numbers since Thursday.

soundoff(272 Responses)

Maggie

Lead disappears, gee, wonder why. Even nuts have limits

February 25, 2012 09:36 pm at 9:36 pm |

WhoCaresAnyMore

I simply choose not to vote. I do not support any of the candidates and do not support Obama. I think in a time when we need jobs and economic growth the most promising developments in medicine, biology, science, space exploration, technology advancements continue to be obstructed by the religious kooks we elect in office.

February 25, 2012 09:38 pm at 9:38 pm |

CJPA

Why doesn't someone bring up the fact that Santorum was run out on a rail in PA after it was learned that he had a dummy address at a vacant house in Pittsburgh, and he and his family were actually living in Virginia!! Huh? Huh?

February 25, 2012 09:39 pm at 9:39 pm |

Paul Williamson

Another flavor of the month for Republicans.....Palin, Bachman, Perry, Cain, Gringrich, Santorum,.. as soon as they see the light of day the smart Republicans say no way..they have feet of clay. Romney will be the nominee by default, not that he is any good but the others are so much worse..Republican turnout will be low due to lack of enthusiasm and Obama will win 40 states

February 25, 2012 09:41 pm at 9:41 pm |

Brad

I cant figure out why americans cant see these two have no solutions to problems that are facing us now.these two are no different from obama,at least newt has some good ideas,america seems to vote for a pretty face

February 25, 2012 09:46 pm at 9:46 pm |

DC

All it took for Santorum's lead to disappear was for people to hear his positions on social issues. His views are very extreme and unrealistic. I can see why the voters in Pennsylvania voted him out by such a large margin.

February 25, 2012 09:47 pm at 9:47 pm |

Gfinny

I wept tears of job reading this headline. Santorum 0. Reality 1. 🙂

February 25, 2012 09:49 pm at 9:49 pm |

hank

I know a lot of smart Republicans, but, good grief, the ones that line up to be president are zealots and nut jobs and so out of touch with the American people they might as well be from Mars.....

February 25, 2012 09:52 pm at 9:52 pm |

talbet

It has to be humiliating to be a Republican.

February 25, 2012 09:53 pm at 9:53 pm |

darkdays4us

The Republican Party is imploding, folks. They lied and kissed up to the Family Values bcrowd for so long for votes (and nothing more) , they now can't shake the monkey off their back anymore. And it 'll cost them the next few elections until they figure it out. lol more popcorn please....

February 25, 2012 09:56 pm at 9:56 pm |

jeckhard

It's encouraging that even the Republicans think he's crazy.

February 25, 2012 09:56 pm at 9:56 pm |

sundrop

santorium is crazy, newt is an adultery and in it for the money. He could not be president if he was the only person in the world. Mitt do not really want to be president, his wife want him to be president. Obama want to bring the soldiers home but is receiving hell from the republicans and fox news family

February 25, 2012 10:02 pm at 10:02 pm |

John W. Riley

Santorum reminds me of GW Bush, wanting to have a faith based administrative agenda. Although the U.S. has always been a Christian nation; running the nation with old Christian values which are not always relevant in the twenty first century in my opinion is a mistake, one we cannot afford. Look what Bush did to us in 8 years! We cannot afford these religious wars around the world. Go Ron Paul, the only politician I trust and that includes Pres. Obama. Peace.

The only thing he killed in the debate was his chances. Too bad, it would have been awesome to see Romney lose Michigan. Doesn't matter much, GOP is going to lose the election anyway. It's because the party is too dumb to back the only one who can win – Ron Paul.

February 25, 2012 10:04 pm at 10:04 pm |

i_know_everything

Santorum is behind Romney and surging

February 25, 2012 10:05 pm at 10:05 pm |

Hahahahahaha

Things are looking good for President Obama. These GOP goons are sad and pathetic.

February 25, 2012 10:05 pm at 10:05 pm |

angryoldguy

My mother & father were life-long republicans. They both passed on 30 years ago. The good thing is that they are not here to see what their beloved party has become. They would not recognize it, they would not know what to make of it. American politics have reached a point where it seems they have little to do with Americans or America, especially the GOP. How sad this all is. If these candidates are the "best & brightest" the GOP has to offer, then they have nothing to offer at all!

they need to check the youth vote for Ron Paul. I guarantee you will see a surge.... And
None of these youths would be doing a phone survey you kidding me? Check Paul's followers on facebook

February 25, 2012 10:12 pm at 10:12 pm |

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ

Until all the primaries are done, these polls don't matter much. It has fluctuated before and will until it is done at the convention.

@arale norimaki - I think that all of them are anti-science. I haven't heard one that understood climate change or looked to scientists for information. Only Huntsman understood this.

February 25, 2012 10:16 pm at 10:16 pm |

Savvyheat

I'd keep an eye out for the 58th Speaker of the House.
I remember seeing Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney both in separate interviews last summer
say "Don't Underestimate Newt". His sheer IQ and command of the issues alone will keep
him viable. He also seems to have boundless energy which is crucial to win- this race is a marathon.

February 25, 2012 10:20 pm at 10:20 pm |

Iamnotfooled

I have a feeling a lot of intelligent Republicans will be voting for President Obama. The choice is that clear.

February 25, 2012 10:21 pm at 10:21 pm |

Troll poster

Aww... I wanted Santorum the Sanctimonious to duke it with Mitten all the way to the convention floor.

February 25, 2012 10:27 pm at 10:27 pm |

Macmaven

What did he think was going to happen? He's talking about going to war around the world, Satan attacking our country, and every other social issue to avoid talking about the one thing that is getting better albeit slowly, the economy. Obama couldn't have planned it better himself, as the economy will have a long history of success, hopefully, by the time November rolls around. The GOP won't be able to ignore it any longer.

February 25, 2012 10:29 pm at 10:29 pm |

Tyler

Let's hope and pray that Obama is not reelected. We need someone that can actually make things happen. I only see Romney as the person that can do this.